Joe Pavelski, who scored all four of the Stars’ goals, gave Dallas a 1-0 lead early until Jaden Schwartz tied it about 10 minutes later.
Pavelski scored again, but Justin Schultz snuck in for another goal to tie things at 2-2, and 11 seconds after that one, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored.
Not to be outdone, Vince Dunn helped Jordan Eberle tip one in for four Kraken goals in less than four minutes – or three goals in a 68-second span, according to the Associated Press.
With Seattle leading at 4-2, there was a long lull in the action until Pavelski, who already had two goals, picked up a hat trick in the third period that made it 4-3, and the momentum went back to Dallas.
Minutes later, Pavelski scored again, which tied it up 4-4 and sent the game into overtime.
In the final period, both teams had many chances, but in the end, Seattle’s Yanni Gourde — a two-time cup winner — got the puck into the net for the win at 12:17 into overtime.
Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves for the Kraken, the AP reported.
What led to the Kraken’s win? Not only did the team not panic when they lost their two-goal lead, but they stuck to their game plan and outshot Dallas.
“A quick turnaround, there’s a disadvantage in terms of the amount of energy, right. You don’t have the rest, you don’t have the luxury of a little bit of practice time, but you are in a rhythm,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, whose team eliminated defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado in seven games.
The second-year Kraken opened the Western Conference semifinals with a in Dallas, even after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period while in his first game back since going into concussion protocol two weeks earlier.
After overcoming a 3-1 series deficit and ending top-seeded Boston’s record-setting season with a Game 7 win, Florida, like Seattle, squandered a two-goal lead in the second-round opener before , which had not played since Saturday.
“It’s a really focused group. I think it is training,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We played pretty damn hard and pretty well.”
Florida was 16-18-4 after a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers on New Year’s Day and stood 13th in the 16-team Eastern Conference standings. The Panthers went 26-14-4 the rest of the way to finish one point ahead of Pittsburgh for the East’s final playoff spot before dispatching the 65-win Bruins.
Brandon Montour has goals in each of Florida’s last three games, and has scored six overall this postseason. Only two NHL defensemen — Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey — have had more goals through the first eight games in a single NHL postseason.
“He is an incredibly fit man. He came out of the gate very strong,” Maurice said, adding that his partner Marc Staal has been fantastic for him.
“Marc is so incredibly consistent, experienced, knows the game, and talks the game,” the coach said. “Those two guys have just built a fantastic chemistry.”
Toronto, like Dallas, also lost first-round opener at home but rallied to eliminate Tampa Bay in six games. DeBoer was happy with that second line of Pavelski, left wing Mason Marchment and right wing Max Domi; Domi had three assists and Marchment had one Tuesday, but more is needed from the rest of the forward group.
“We just need to hit the net, maybe,” forward Jason Robertson said of the Stars, who had 35 shots on Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer but also 18 missed shots and had 20 shots blocked. “Not only hit the net, but get it through their guys who are blocking the shots and getting in front and just create more scrambles and try to create more chances.”
“We’ve got to be alert all the time,” Dallas defenseman Jani Hakanpaa said. “We’ve got to know where everybody’s at and then the things we’ve been doing all year, having good gaps, our forwards have been tracking back for us. That allows us to do that. Just trust our game with that, but you’ve got to be alert for sure.”
Goalie Jake Oettinger allowed five goals for the first time in his brief Stanley Cup Playoffs career Tuesday, but his teammates aren’t worried about his response; during the regular season, Oettinger was 17-1-3 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in games following losses.
“I’m sure his mindset is more, he’s already dialed in, but he knows if he could have done something better, he’s going to respond the right way,” Robertson said. “He attacks it, he’s proactive to whatever comes toward him, and that’s something we all admire about him.”
Dallas bounced back with victories after each of its first-round losses to the Minnesota Wild. After losing 3-2 in double overtime in Game 1, it won 7-3 in Game 2, and following a 5-1 loss in Game 3, the Stars won 3-2 in Game 4.
They wanted to take that first one against the Kraken at home too, but are ready to get back to it Thursday.
“We know we can do better,” Pavelski said. “One thing is their compete will probably go up in certain areas and execution, all those things. It’s a team that had our attention right from the start. We knew they were coming in, they beat a good team (the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games), up and down the lineup they’re deep. So yeah, we need to be better ourselves.”
How can Seattle Kraken beat Dallas Stars?
How it looked last night (Tuesday) is the Kraken swarmed the Stars with four goals in the first period – despite not scoring first like they did in all seven games of their first-round series win over Colorado – withstood an epic four-goal performance by Dallas’ Joe Pavelski, and then had a player (Yanni Gourde) step up when it mattered most in overtime.
“Win these battles, handle it when the Stars are coming at you in waves, get contributions throughout the lineup,” Wyshynski said. “Having a Yanni Gourde, for example, be the hero is the kind of thing that you need because ultimately Dallas is a pretty deep team and they get performances typically out of most of their lines, though they were a little bit Pavelski-centric last night So just keep doing what you’re doing.
“It was exciting to see the Kraken kind of flip the script a little bit and not have to score the first goal to win a game, which was obviously a real key to the success in the Colorado series. But that’s what they’re going to do. Get up on the Stars as early as you can and then just try to grind them down as best you can.”
OVERVIEW
OnMyWay Is The #1 Distracted Driving Mobile App In The Nation!
OnMyWay, based in Charleston, SC, The Only Mobile App That Pays its Users Not to Text and Drive.
The #1 cause of death among young adults ages 16-27 is Car Accidents, with the majority related to Distracted Driving.
OnMyWay’s mission is to reverse this epidemic through positive rewards. Users get paid for every mile they do not text and drive and can refer their friends to get compensated for them as well.
The money earned can then be used for Cash Cards, Gift Cards, Travel Deals and Much, Much More….
The company also makes it a point to let users know that OnMyWay does NOT sell users data and only tracks them for purposes of providing a better experience while using the app.
The OnMyWay app is free to download and is currently available on both the App Store for iPhones and Google Play for Android @ OnMyWay; Drive Safe, Get Paid.
Download App Now – https://r.onmyway.com
Sponsors and advertisers can contact the company directly through their website @ www.onmyway.com